Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend because we were thinking that all our lives, we never recalled personally knowing anyone developing mental disorders that interfered with their lives. I thought back into my past, to a child, a teenager, in college, and I never remember this. But now, we both know so many people now who have such problems that in some cases it could be classified as near insanity. I know so many more people today who have psychological problems than medical problems and it is really bizarre.

Did I just not notice when I was younger, or wasn’t it there? I remember feeling so aware of what was going on around me that I can’t imagine I just missed it. Did I learn to like people or have something in common with people who were the ones who must develop mental problems as an emergent property? Is there an environmental cause, insanity caused by something that’s changed, a toxin or biological agent due to warfare, or an undiscovered disease, even a minor one that triggers biochemical changes to the body at a later age? Or was there (is there?) a spike in childhood abuse or sexual abuse that manifests itself this way later in life and now I’m at that age when it manifests?

I don’t know, but it was a really interesting conversation.